I was proud to receive the prestigious Elizabeth Hurlock Beckman Award last month in Atlanta, Georgia. It recognizes individuals who have worked to inspire their students to be mentors themselves. I was nominated by my former student Dr. Saadiq El-Amin who is currently a professor of orthopaedic surgery at Southern Illinois University who is mentoring a new generation of students and individuals in the community. I am grateful to Dr. El-Amin and the Elizabeth Hurlock Beckman Award Advisory Committee for this award.

It was my honor and privilege to serve as Visiting Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Texas, Austin. During the visit, I delivered the Pirkey lectureship entitled “Musculoskeletal Regenerative Engineering: Taking on the Grand Challenges.” My talk highlighted the tremendous work being carried out here at the Institute for Regenerative Engineering. More specifically, I discussed the unprecedented strides predicted for the next decade in regenerating musculoskeletal tissues, a move from an era of advanced prosthetics to what we terms “Regenerative Engineering.”

I so appreciated the hospitality provided by the university and I thank Professor Nicholas A. Peppas, Professor of Chemical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering and Pharmacy Chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering, in particular, for inviting me to visit this great institution.